KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 26): The FBM KLCI notched up modest gains in line with the firmer overnight close at Wall Street and Europe.

At 9.05am, the FBM KLCI rose 3.84 points to 1,690.43.

The gainers included Ajinomoto (M) Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, KESM Industries Bhd, Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Keluarga Bhd, ViTrox Corp Bhd, PPB Group Bhd, Hengyuan Refining Company Bhd, Hartalega Holdings Bhd, Hartalega Holdings Bhd and DiGi.Com Bhd.

U.S. stocks followed Europe higher on Thursday as investors ventured into risky bets again with some encouragement from earnings and the dollar rose against the euro after remarks from Europe's Central Bank chief committed to stimulus withdrawal despite market volatility and worries about global growth, according to Reuters.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 483.77 points, or 1.97 percent, to 25,067.19, the S&P 500 gained 63.89 points, or 2.41 percent, to 2,719.99 and the Nasdaq Composite added 248.35 points, or 3.49 percent, to 7,356.75, said Reuters.

Hong Leong IB Research in a traders’ brief said although market participants have returned to stock markets yesterday, the research house believe it could be short lived as the worries on trade war (dampening the global economic activities) as well as the interest rate up-cycle environment could resurface in the upcoming months.

“Meanwhile, over the near term, Wall Street is likely to trend sideways ahead of the US midterm election.

“On the local bourse, sentiment may stay tepid following the recent selling pressure and investors may still wait for further clarity in Budget 2019 next week before expanding their exposure in stock markets.

“Hence, we think rebound would be short lived over the near term and upside should be capped near the 1,700,” it said.